K: Golden Empire
by PockyNerd
Summary: Two years after the 2nd season under the assumption the Slates were not destroyed. Two years after the deaths of the Green and Grey Kings everything is back to normal but it doesn't last long. The Grey clan is active under a new King and harassing Yuki Aiko hoping to draw out the Gold King. Reisi takes charge to help Yuki despite her habit of lying about the Gold King's whereabouts
1. 01: Girl on the road

The sounds of the city calmed Reisi. Whenever he walked through the streets he suddenly felt as if his Sword of Damocles stopped crumbling. Nobody around him noticed his presence. Secretly, he liked this. He liked not being noticed sometimes. He liked walking through the streets without worrying too much about his responsibilities. For a moment the world was…normal. He even allowed himself to wonder if he'd be married without the Sword hanging over him. But it never stays like that for long. Usually it's a call from his second in command but this time it was a girl who simply wasn't watching while she ran through the crowd of people.

They both tumbled in the crosswalk. Nobody stopped to check on them. Like ants they simply went around them. "Are you okay? Oh god, I'm so, so, so sorry." The girl sat on her knees and held her hands as if she were praying. Her body was shaking. She was scared of something.

Reisi adjusted his glasses and stood up slowly and, like the gentleman he was, held his hand out to her. "No harm done but you should probably watch where you're going next time."

The girl took his hand and allowed herself to be helped up.

"What were you running for, anyway?" He asked not out of curiosity, he could care less about why she was running but intuition told him that he needed to ask. This girl, he thought, wouldn't just go running without a good reason.

She turned around and watched the people around them. The light to walk was starting a countdown so they moved back into place on the sidewalk and had to wait for another walking sign to come on. "I was being chased. I thought they were closer behind than they probably were. I'm sorry, again, for running into you." The words tumbled onto her mouth in one long sentence.

This girl couldn't be any more than a child in high school. She was pretty short for the age he guessed her to be at. Her eyes were perfectly at his chest. Her eyes were a stormy grey but somewhere in them he swore he saw golden pieces that hid in the storm and her hair was a bright blond he'd never seen before.

"Are you in danger?" He watched the signs, never looking at her as he said this.

"I'm not sure. Maybe. I really don't know what they want. I'm not really apart of their war but they seem to want to involve me."

Reisi opened his mouth to ask who but as he asked his perephial vision caught a gleam of a bullet in the sun and by its trajectory he knew it was aimed at the girl. Swiftly, before he could even register the movement, he was in front of the girl and his blue aura protected them and destroyed the bullet.

"I see you got a body guard, gold king." The voice belonged to a woman he couldn't see.

The girl behind him screamed. He turned quickly but not quick enough, she was being dragged away by a red headed woman, toward the traffic that was stopped for the civilians to cross the street.

"No, let go! You have the wrong person!" Her voice wasn't convincing enough but now wasn't the moment to focus on that. The sword he held at his hip released from its sheath. He needed to be careful and not harm the girl. Reisi's speed surprised even himself. By now he should be used to the speed but there were times when he really focused on it.

The speed even surprised the woman and so did his sword. He swung at her arm, releasing the blue aura in a sharp pattern. She was forced to let go and the girl scrambled up off of the ground to half hide behind him. "Who are you?" He demanded of the woman.

The woman smirked and threw down a smoke bomb. He released his aura to blow away the smoke and she was simply gone. There was nothing to be done now except to take the girl with him to Scepter 4 HQ.

"Thank you," The girl took the cup of green tea he handed her. She was surprisingly reluctant to come with him. She hadn't spoken a word the whole way there and now she sat with her head down as if she were staring at her tea but he could see she was watching the world around her. Everything that moved she seemed to hear and her eyes would be drawn to that thing that made noise, whatever it was when her eyes moved. In the storm he saw her plan many escape routes. She'd been running for a long time and because she'd been running for so long she became timid. Her timidness didn't stop her manners, though.

When she followed him in nobody asked questions but they did stare at her and they wondered quietly through their stares if she was a new clansman and if not then how did she know Reisi. Nobody ever said a word.

"Tell me, who are you?" His voice was soft. He didn't want to scare her away.

Her stormy eyes looked at him, it searched his soul. Finally she spoke in a quiet voice. "My name is Yuki Aiko."

Reisi felt himself smile a genuine smile. "Yuki Aiko," he mused aloud. "That's a lovely name," he nearly blushed at saying the words aloud. They weren't words he wanted to say aloud and he had to clear his throat and hoped that Yuki forgot it quickly. "Who were they and why were they after you?"

"Oh that? Well…that's kind of a long story but I'll try to shorten it up for you. When the Gold King passed on and most of Japan was occupied with rebuilding two years ago the Grey clan became active. I don't know why but they're set on finding the new Gold King so they're going after the clansmen of the old King, including me." He could only stare at her with a dumb and shocked look on his face that she laughed at. Her laugh was warm like the sun. "The only reason I became a clansmen was because my parents begged him to make me one. My family personally knew Daikakou. I've had the powers since I was born. That's the only reason I'm involved in this mess." Her eyes watched the green tea as if it held answers. There was something she was lying about and something she was holding back and maybe the answer was the same.

"Who was the woman?" He wanted name and details.

"Yaka, I think. It sounds like a weird name, right? I think it's a nickname and even then I think it's a last name but anyway, she's not the king. I think she's just a small lackey. I don't even think she's a real clansman. She's just someone trying to get in." Yuki never took a breath the entire time. When she was finished she sipped the tea. "You're the Blue King, right? You're Reisi?"

Reisi tried to keep calm, cool, collected. If he didn't he might not frighten the girl but he didn't want to take the chance. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I keep up with the clans still. There's the Red King Anna, she's been king for a little under three years, right? Since her old king died. Then there's the old Green and Grey kings but they died two years ago. The Green Clan still doesn't have a king, as far as anybody knows of, but the Grey King is…a mystery to me. Then…The First King, Silver, he was called Weisman, right? Am I missing anybody?"

He had to admit, and he allowed himself to show, he was impressed with the girl's knowledge. "Silver, Blue, Red, Green, Grey, you forgot the colorless king."

"Oh right. I guess there's no colorless king successor. Then the Gold King, as I've said before, is still a missing target."

 _No,_ he thought, _the Gold King is not missing and your lying is terrible._ Every lie Yuki told he not only saw a flicker of her eyes, moving toward one of her chosen exits, and she pushed away a strand of hair that wasn't there. Finally he had to ask out of curiosity because this girl seemed to have wisdom that shouldn't belong to a high school student. "How old are you?"

"My age? I'm 22. Why?" Yuki tilted her head. "It's because I look really young huh?"

Both her answer and her question caught him off guard and he was rarely caught off guard. He pushed up his glasses more out of embarrassment and ignored the question. "If you'd like, Miss Aiko, you're allowed to used Scepter 4 as a temporary home until the Grey Clansman stop their search."

The girl smiled in a genuine and pure thankfulness. "Thank you, but I wouldn't want to waste space here. Besides, I still have my business and my home is…well pretty far away from the city. I should be fine going home."

"Then, allow me to lend you a few of my men to escort you home." A gleam in her eyes told him she was about to object but he caught her before she could say anything. "If you go out alone you'll just wind up here anyway. At least if someone is around they're less likely to attack you."

Her face softened. He had her cornered. "Okay, that's fine. Thank you, Reisi. But only one. One powerful person should be more than enough to take on the Greys. I don't want to deplete you of power, that would just be a burden on you." They both stood. He knew exactly who would be fit for such a job.


	2. 02: Failure

Yuki waited just outside the building Scepter 4 called their territory. All the while she felt watched by nothing. Blue clansmen passed her and attempted in vain not to stare. She couldn't blame them because she was new, a stranger, and they all wanted to get a good look before things returned to normal. Or maybe they stared because their king took some interest in her.

She closed her eyes to enjoy the sun on her face for a moment but then quickly opened them. Every time she closed her eyes she caught images of memory that didn't belong to her. She shouldn't be having memories from a man that died long ago. Two souls shouldn't be able to occupy one body but it did. Daikokou wanted to see his old friend again and again for as long as he lived.

"Hey, you're Yuki Aiko?"

The voice nearly startled her but when she recognized the uniform to be that of Scepter 4 she calmed herself. "Yeah," she finally said.

"I'm Saruhiko Fushimi. I'll be escorting you home." Fushimi didn't seem to care much for her, in fact he acted as if she were a burden. Maybe she was. However, his king was the one that insisted on this arrangement. He was her own age and acted very arrogantly. He was used to being the best. He was smarter, faster, stronger than everyone else. Or at least that was the mask he liked to wear.

Without another word she started walking. Fushimi didn't ask her any questions either, which she was silently thankful for. They would need to get to the train station before the Greys figured out where she was.

The summer sun beat down mercilessly but it didn't bother her as much as it bothered Fushimi. He fanned himself with his hands as they waited at a crosswalk. "How much longer do we have to walk?" He complained.

"Just a few more minutes. There's a train station a few more minutes away. That'll take me home. You could, actually, just drop me off there." The crosswalk signaled for everyone to walk so they started walking.

"No, I'll ride the train all the way there with you. I'd be killed if I didn't anyway," Fushimi sighed and finally stopped fanning himself. He stared intently at something in front of them. Yuki followed his line of sight to a boy holding his skateboard under his arm. He was about their age with red hair and a grumpy look.

"Well, now, Misaki, I hope you aren't causing any trouble out here," Fushimi said it with as much poison as he did sarcasm when they got closer.

The boy he called Misaki turned away from him, doing everything he could not to get into a fight. "Shut up, Fushimi, what I'm doing is none of your damn business."

The two boys didn't seem to notice her presence anymore. "Come on, Misaki, don't be like that. Weren't we friends once?"

That struck a nerve with the fiery haired boy. His fist lit up with the red aura of the Red Clan and he punched but the cool-headed Blue Clansman dodged too easily. In the middle of a crowd, Misaki and Fushimi were a blur of fists and feet and dodging and dancing. Misaki couldn't hit Fushimi, who mocked him.

"Come on, you can do better than that, Misaki. What's wrong? Aren't you stronger yet?" With every insult the fiery aura grew brighter.

Across the street a silvery glow caught her eye. The aura was grey and it surrounded a person she never saw before. He had hair like clouds and piercing blue eyes that stared right at her. Was this a grey clansman? She wasn't going to wait for the answer. She just ran. And ran. And ran until she broke from the crowded streets and suddenly her face collided with the cement. They were still out in the open but this time there was nobody to come and rescue her.

Blood dripped from her nose, Yuki could feel that. The blood was thick and the pain was sharp. Did she break her nose?

Strong hands grabbed her slim wrists and twisted her arms painfully. She tried not to scream. They weren't going to have the satisfaction of a scream. Who had her? Who was it that sat on her back and held her down?

The warmth of their breath tickled her neck. "I'm disappointed in you, Gold King, I thought you would have put up a better fight than that? Are you still trying to hide even after we've found you?" The man pulled on her arms. It ripped a scream from her throat. "Yaka may have failed to detain you but I'm much different." A fog appeared so suddenly that she was convinced it wasn't real.

The power of gold was useless if she kept it hidden. But she wasn't apart of this war.

Heat surrounded them but it didn't burn her as much as she thought it would. It was a powerful heat that forced the man to let go and new hands were replaced. They were warmer and gentler when they picked her up. She looked up at a man who was way too gentle to be in the red clan. His eyes were full of kindness and he was dressed as if he were ready to serve people alcohol.

Now she got a good look at the Grey clansman. He was only in his early twenties but possessed more power than most clansman. He knew how to use it too. Misaki and Fushimi were nowhere to be found.

The red aura blew away the smog. It belonged to a very young looking girl. She used the aura to create wings like an angle and it kept her hovering over the ground. The eyes that glared at this clansman were like daggers. Behind her was a whole group of a gang called HOMRA.

"Beating up women isn't very nice," ash from the bartender's cigarette dropped on her cheek but she quickly wiped it away. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Me? I'm Juno, a grey clansman. Our fight has nothing to do with you reds so leave us be!"

"You don't exactly have room to be giving orders seeing as how you're the one on our territory, Juno." The bartender set down Yuki on her feet and he flicked away the butt of his cigarette and began taking out another one.

"Go ahead, come at me," Juno challenged.

The Red's Sword of Damocles was beautiful and Yuki could feel the warmth and safety under it. She could feel the power and it put pressure on her body, she felt like she'd be smothered under it but she somehow stayed on her feet.

 _Yes, that's the power of the Kings. The power you are trying to run away from._ The voice in her head was not her own. The old soul was awakened by the noise and adrenaline.

She never saw the bar tender take out his lighter but she did see him use the power given to him to create balls of fire that followed Juno as he ran from it. He ran up a building and a few weren't fast enough to follow upwards but the rest did. He jumped and dove headfirst toward the ground and a few ran into each other. He landed on his feet and had no time to relax before a bigger guy, tanned with blond hair, started throwing punches. Still, Juno kept calm and never used his power. He even allowed himself to answer a ringing phone.

Shortly after his face changed. He frowned and continued dodging. "Yes, of course. Alright then," he hung up the phone and this time he dodged a punched by ducking and then he kicked the man in the stomach. The grey aura started to surround him. Juno took the time to look at Yuki who hid behind the bartender and then at the red king. "I would love to stay and fight you, Anna, but my King calls." He sighed with disappointment. "Guess I'll have this fight with you some other time." His aura released into a mist.

As fast as she could Anna released her aura and scattered the mist but Juno was gone.

Yuki had no strength to stand. She fell to her knees and sighed. "Thank you, Red King." She looked up at the girl and smiled. Her Sword disappeared into a glittery rain of red and the aura that kept her afloat vanished as her feet touched the ground. "I'm afraid I lost someone while running. Oh well, I guess."

"Who are you?" Anna asked of the girl.

Yuki pointed to herself. "Me? I'm Yuki Aiko. I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Anna."

Footsteps made everybody's head spin. A skateboard hit Anna's head and made her fall backward onto her butt. The blue clansman Fushimi and the one he called Misaki were oblivious to the fight. Fushimi and Misaki were too into their own battle. Whatever the skateboard was supposed to do missed its target. Whoever threw it in the first place, well nobody saw that part.

"Hey, Yata, watch it!" The bartender scolded.

Misaki turned and blushed. "Sorry, Anna." This left an opening that Fushimi should have taken but he stared at Yuki and then quickly put his sword away. The look on his face said he wanted to run to Yuki, to make sure she was okay because he failed at his job, but the bartender stood in his way and this made him nervous.

"What's a blue doing here?" The bigger man said once he recovered from the kick.

Yuki touched the blood oozing from her nose and then wiped it carefully. "He's with me," she announced. "That's the one I lost when I ran."


	3. 03: The Silver King

Anna sipped her drink and tried to ignore the yelps of pain from their injured guest. Izumo was checking her nose. "No, it doesn't feel broken. Probably bruised."

"Thank you, Kusanagi." Yuki Aiko, she said her name was. The man, Juno, called her the Gold King and the aura shown while she looked at her or through the marble showed gold as well. Why was she keeping her power a secret? Anna decided not to let anybody else but Izumo know her thoughts on this because Izumo would be able to judge better if she was wrong.

Anna turned to the girl. She wore simple clothing of jeans and a plain black shirt that mimicked how a kimono folds onto the body. Fushimi and Yata stayed on opposite sides of the room-Fushimi next to Yuki and Yata next to Anna. Both boys were protecting something but instinct told her that Fushimi was protecting his pride.

"So, what are you doing with a blue?" Yata demanded of Yuki. Izumo pounded Yata's head.

"Be nice," he growled under his breath.

Yuki didn't seem to notice the harsh tone Yata had. She just smiled. "The Blue King, Reisi, told him to escort me home. I ran into Reisi earlier and he ran off one of the Greys." Yuki looked out the window and sighed. "So much for catching my train. I guess I'm staying the night in the city." She was talking to herself.

Anna jumped from the bar stool and sat at the couch across from her. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"I was offered one but I really would like to just get out of the city. It'd be a lot safer for me." She closed her eyes and thought hard but she simply let out a held in breath.

"They are after the Gold King?" Anna spoke again.

Yuki nodded. "Yes. I used to be a clansman of the old Gold King before he passed so the Grey Clan is kind of just bullying everyone they think is the Gold King." Yuki's stormy eyes revealed something to Anna and Anna hoped her eyes communicated too.

"Why?" It was a simple question and one that she hoped Yuki secretly understood. _Why aren't you revealing yourself as the Gold King? Why are you hiding?_

"Well because, the Gold King is the second most powerful, right? Or they're supposed to be. Power like that could be used for their purposes. But, I've found that the power is useless if you can't use it to fight." _Because I don't want that kind of power. The power has caused war. Nothing but destruction. I want nothing to do with war._

Anna nodded in understanding. "So you want to get out of the city…"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. No train no getting out, that means I get another day of torture. Just when I think I've lost the Grey Clan too."

Izumo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he smiled a brotherly smile, "they won't be coming here anytime soon so why don't you just stay with us?"

Yuki smiled. "Thank you for the offer but I don't think I could give you guys any more trouble." She stood before anyone could make objections to her and she nodded at Anna. "Thank you, Anna."

Anna stood and leaned across the coffee table with a red marble. She dropped it in Yuki's hand. "A neutral man. The Silver King can protect you, Yuki. You won't be giving him trouble. Just look into the marble."

Something flashed across her face that didn't belong to her. It was a look of excitement of seeing an old friend. She looked into the marble. "Thank you, Anna." She turned to Fushimi. "Okay, I'm ready. Can you bring me to the Silver King?"

When the two left shortly after, and the HOMRA members weren't in the bar, Izumo asked while he cleaned a wine glass, "So we're going to pretend she's not a King?"

Anna nodded. "She wants to be left out."

Izumo chuckled humorlessly. "But she'll be forced if the Grey King continues to go after her. We cannot protect her and neither can Scepter 4."

Anna nodded and watched the marbles. One showed her the Gold King walking with Fushimi. She hid behind him and everything startled her. She was overly timid to the point of anxiety. Could this really be the Second King?


	4. 04: Warm laugh

Neko jumped up and down on the bed, impatiently waiting for Kuroh to make the rice and fish. Kuroh kept warning her not to jump up and down. Shiro continued to watch the outside world. He was too old now to pass as a student so he was thankful of Neko's ability, which allowed them to fake Shiro's job at the school.

Outside, students flooded around certain buildings, preparing for different summer festivals that were held every year. Traditional festivals that Shiro would never be apart of. In the sea of uniforms there were two people who didn't wear theirs. With the distance from the ground Shiro couldn't see who the strangers were.

He watched the two walk closer to the building full of rooms in which students usually lived in.

Neko put her hands on the top of his head and pushed downward, forcing him to bend in ways he didn't expect to bend. "Is that Saruhiko?" Neko grinned. "Yeah, yeah that is! And he brought a nice looking girl with him. Do you think he brought anything else?"

"Neko, get off Shiro and come and eat." Kuroh ordered the cat-like woman. She skipped over to the table and sat down on one of the cushions. Shiro took this time to straighten his back with a laugh. "Shiro, are you going to come eat too?" Kuroh slapped away Neko's hand from touching the fish.

A knock sounded at the door. Kuroh stood and walked to the door and this allowed for Neko to take the entire fish and hide behind Shiro as she ate it nearly whole. From where he was Shiro could see Kuroh talk to two beings, the two that he saw walking toward the building. The girl was timid and hid behind Fushimi and refused to come out of hiding. Fushimi didn't seem to mind but he didn't seem to like how the girl held onto his shoulder either and didn't let go as they walked. Kuroh stood to the side so they could walk in and he closed the door behind him.

Shiro smiled warmly. "Fushimi, what brings you here?" The girl seemed to relax at not being noticed but it was only for a moment that she felt this way.

"This girl needs a protected place for the night. She refused both the Red and Blue territory. All that's left is yours until morning." Fushimi took a step to the side and forced her hand from his shoulder.

"Well sure, what's your name?"

The fact that the girl now stood at the center of attention made her uncomfortable. She folded her arms and bit her lip. "I'm Yuki Aiko." Finally she relaxed. "You are the Silver King, right? Weisman or now you're called Yashiro."

Shiro nodded. "Just call me Shiro, though. Can you tell me a little bit about why you need a protected territory?"

Neko walked on all fours all around the girl, curious about the newcomer. Then she put her head under Yuki's hand while she spoke. She spoke while looking around the room about the Grey clan's new King. About their search for the Gold King.

Sometimes Yuki stopped and giggled at what seemed to be random before continuing. Her face seemed to change to something familiar to Shiro but then the timid part was back. Still, she smiled warmer than before.

Shiro nodded when she was done with her story. "I see. So the Grey Clan is active again. Okay, yeah, you can stay here, Yuki."

Yuki turned to Fushimi and bowed. "Thank you for getting me here safely, Fushimi. Tell Reisi thanks as well."

Fushimi seemed a bit ashamed of himself. "You got here kind of safely," he corrected.

She stared at him with confusion before she remembered her nose was wrapped in tape. "Oh you mean the nose? Kusanagi said it wasn't broken." She put a hand on his shoulder. "You did fine, Fushimi."

Still, he looked like he couldn't forgive himself as he walked out of the room, toward the door, and then suddenly stopped and looked back at her. "I'll be here by dawn so you'd better be ready, Miss Aiko."

Yuki nodded. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning then." The door was shut behind him.

"Are you hungry?" Kuroh sat at the table and reached across to take a piece of fish only to discover that it was missing. He glared at Neko as Yuki answered.

"No, thank you."

"Neko! Did you eat the fish!" He started to chase her, first around the coffee table and then around the room. Neko hissed and used Yuki as a shield. At first she looked kind of confused and then she laughed.

Her laugh kind of reminded him of his old friend. He missed the old Gold King some days. Yuki had a warm laugh. Her whole face lit up. However, after the laughter died down she hardly spoke a word.


	5. 05: Grey Clouds

The night went on with no sleep. Yuki could hear the old Gold King in her head, though, telling stories about the Silver King. He missed his old friend. He was glad to see Weisman one more time before they headed out into the country.

Fushimi held up on his promise. Everyone looked so peaceful sleeping that she didn't want to wake them. She left a note of thanks and met Fushimi down at the bridge and they walked toward the train station.

"So, did you get in trouble, Fushimi?"

Yuki could see him flinch but he coolly pushed up his glasses. "No, not too terribly when I told him you insisted. He didn't understand, though, why you didn't just come back to Scepter 4. We could have taken better care of you there."

How could she get them to understand? She and Fushimi walked in silence.

At this time of morning when the sun rose to hit the buildings just right, and the people were nowhere to be found, everything was peaceful.

She wanted to be home out in the countryside. No Greys or Blues or Reds. No clans. No cities. And when her time was up she could peacefully go without worrying about her Sword destroying half of Japan.

A glint of something silver caught her eyes. "Watch it!" Fushimi picked her up and he jumped away from the silver knife. Juno jumped from atop of a building. A fall that would have killed a normal man but not a clansman.

As his feet hit the ground a fog scattered to engulf them. "I was waiting for you to get out of the Silver King's territory, Gold King." Juno's voice came from all sides of them.

Yuki hide behind Fushimi who had his knives drawn in both hands. Eight knives total that emanated a blue aura. As soon as he saw a shadow he threw four of the knives. "Miss Aiko, see if you can get out of the fog. If you can run to Scepter 4 and get the Captain."

As he spoke a gunshot fired in front of them. Apparently the knives missed their target. Fushimi's blue aura protected them. "Go now!" He insisted.

Yuki didn't need to be told another time. She ran as soon as she thought she saw a break in the fog. She followed the road straight. It went on and on and on and on and on. It didn't stop. Why? What distance could the fog have? She had to stop to catch her breath.

Above her there was a purposeful break. It showed her only the Grey Clan's Sword of Damocles. "He's here," Yuki whispered.

"Well what did you think? That I would sit around and watch my clansman have all the fun? Juno's strong but he's no match for you." His voice came from all around her. Suddenly there was a break in the fog in front of her, enough to allow for its master to jump toward her.

The master was a young man her age, in her class when they were in High School. Damien always loved her but she never reciprocated until their third year but each attempt at flirting only ended in an awkward tumbling of words. He never did tell her if he knew her love but that was before he changed. Their friend, Akane, loved Damien but Damien never reciprocated the feeling and she died never being showered in Damien's love.

Damien's hair always fascinated her and it still did. It was black but shown green in the sunlight and his eyes were grassy green and his skin was a creamy color. It wasn't too tanned but it wasn't too pale either.

Damien punched, his fist lit up with grey aura. She had to block it with her wrist surrounded by a golden aura. She blocked his kicks and punches with her wrists and aura.

They didn't always fight. They fought now because long ago, when the Gold King died and she was chosen for King, and he was chosen for the Grey King, Damien stood in front of her while they walked home from a days work at the coffee shop they used to love. "We need to use this power while we have it," he proclaimed. "Don't you see, with this power we could bring peace to the world!"

The proposition intrigued her. "How could we do that, Damien?"

Damien put his hands on her shoulder. "We could _make_ the world leaders do whatever we want with this power."

"That's borderline ruling the world," she tried to take his hands off of her shoulders but he held steady.

"Then that's what all the Kings should do. We could all rule the world." His grip tightened and became painful.

"We can't do that. With this power, Damien, we have to use it very sparingly. Only to protect our loved ones." His grip only tightened but his hands shook. Did he think she would have understood? "You're hurting me," her voice became small and quiet. The look in his bright green eyes was something darker. Something she didn't want to see. There was a storm brewing.

"You just don't see it, yet. The power that has been bestowed on us."

"Do you not remember the chaos that reigned when everybody had this power, Damien? That was Chaos and now you wish to bring it back! I don't want that! Forget you're a King. Forget you have a Clan. Don't be apart of the war!"

He shoved her into the mud. It started to rain. "So then you're against me. So be it but I'll make you see. I'll make you join, Golden King. I'll make you rule like a King. You cannot escape the war."

They fought now because Yuki didn't wish to be King. He wanted to rule an empire that would never last.

His last kick sent her skidding onto the ground. Her arm started to bleed.

Damien's hair was longer now, it was past his shoulders, and now he carried a katana at his hip. It was surrounded in the same grey aura. She took it out of its sheath. Sparks flew as he dragged it across the ground closer and closer to her. When he was close enough he held the tip of katana at her neck. It pricked the skin and made her bleed.

"Well, are you ready to join now, Golden King?"

"Damien, please. Don't make me do this. Don't make me join the war. I used to love you. Can't you be that Damien again?" A tear streaked down her cheek. The proclamation made him flinch.

Damien smiled but his smile held no warmth to it. "Well of course I can, Golden King." He knelt down with the sword at her neck. The cold katana. The cold grassy eyes. It all spelled out a King that lost his way. He could never go back. "I can be that same Damien again for you. But, I need you to lend me your power. After that, whatever war you fear will be over."

Yuki couldn't look at him anymore. The new Damien disgusted her. Inside of her, she felt herself open a lid she let get dusty on a shelf in her heart. When she opened it she felt the warmth like the sun in spring. It came with such force that she nearly got lost in its power.

She could feel her Sword rising from the box she kept it in. Now everybody knew and there was no turning back. Her foot was surrounded in an aura like rays of the sun and she kicked him harder in the stomach than she's ever kicked anybody before. Even his grey aura couldn't protect him.

There was a moment of hesitation and lack of power. Yuki stood and stomped on the ground, using every ounce of aura she wanted to release to clear the fog around them. She could clearly see their Swords of Damocles. His was grey, it shined grey, and was like a cloudy day. Hers was golden and blinding in the sun. It shined a yellow light in the middle.

"So, finally, you join the war, Golden King." Damien put his hands on his hips.

"I'll end it here, Damien." Yuki slid her left leg behind her and put up her right hand in front of her.

"Do you plan on bringing your Sword of Damocles down on us? Fine then do it!"

She hesitated. She didn't actually think he'd challenge her. In a city full of civilians she didn't want to bring down her Sword.

"You can't do it, can you?" He moved quickly. She had no choice but to go on the defensive and dodge any attacks he gave with his katana. With each swing and step forward she took several steps back to dodge.

Finally, he backed her up into a building.

Her once very dear friend was gone. And she didn't have the heart to fight him off.

She closed her eyes, refusing to look at him. It saddened her heart to look at him. Inside of her she gathered the remaining sunny aura that was let out of the jar and shoved it back in and the Sword she shoved back into its box and she hid them on a shelf next to a lovely memory of her and Damien and Akane just minutes before her lifeline was cut.

The steel of the Katana was cold against her neck but what was frozen was a tear that she could feel crash on the blade. Even his breath held no warmth as he whispered in her ear. "I didn't expect you to give up so easily. I thought the Gold King had more power than that."

Yuki opened her eyes finally. He put away his sword and took her body into a meaningless embrace. Damien stroked her hair and his other hand pressed against her lower back. To him, this hug was something he would never forget if he succeeded. To her, this hug wasn't right.

"I'm sorry I had to do all of this to you, Yuki. I must have really scared you." He finally called her by her name. For two years she didn't hear him call her that. "But this is for a bright future for everyone. You'll understand it soon." He whispered all of this like a secret. Damien's face moved and paused near her cheek as if he were going to give her a kiss but the kiss never came.

In the air she could see his Sword disappearing into a glittery array of grey. Another one was appearing in its place. It was blue. She had to keep Damien's back to it until the Blue King could come and assist.

Damien released her from the hug but his katana was back out and pressed against the other side of her neck. His other hand wrapped around her shoulders and he pressed her forward, the way she came.

"You still don't trust me to not run since you have your sword out," Yuki observed.

He continued to speak as if she hadn't said a thing. "The world will be bright, won't it? The Silver King can rule the Americas, you can rule Asia and I'll be close by in Europe." Damien was off in his own world now. This wasn't the boy she used to know.

If Damien wasn't so aware of their surroundings he would have died then. Unfortunately the Blue King made himself well known. Reisi tried to attack from him behind but Damien turned and blocked Reisi's sword easily. "And the Blue King will rule the Arctic. We won't ever have to see his face again." This face scared Yuki even more.

When he loved her, before the Kings power, he often got jealous but this jealousy was different. He was ready to kill Reisi and anybody else who planned to steal her away. He was probably prepared to kill her too.


	6. 06: Blue King

Reisi jumped backward from the block. He was extremely disappointed in Fushimi but even more he was disappointed in himself for not escorting the girl himself. He wondered if anybody else saw the golden Sword of Damocles. If they did then where were they?

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," The Grey Sword of Damocles started to appear again and he realized just how damaged his own Sword was and his fear was that it would crumble at an accelerated rate. "Just who are you?"

The boy he stared at, the Grey King, had a psychopathic look in his eyes. His grip on Yuki tightened. "I'm the Grey King, Damien Sokou." For a moment his grip loosened. The moment that Damien was distracted Yuki allowed her aura to shine through. She elbowed his stomach and she took his head in her hands and pulled it down to her knee. The crunching of his nose made her flinch and she ran as fast as she could behind Reisi.

Her Sword of Damocles was bright and Golden and shined in so many different colors in the sun. On his back was an extra Scepter 4 sword that he threw to her. "You're going to have to use it, Yuki."

She was uncomfortable holding the sword. In her hands it was awkward and ineffective against Damien's attack. The sword flew from her hand and clattered a few feet away. Reisi moved to strike but Damien blocked. The aura he released into smoke was one he was familiar with as they exchanged blows.

"Well now, you're a lot stronger than you look. I have to give you that much praise." Damien mocked.

A ball of red and heat broke up their exchange. They both jumped back away from each other and the attack. Anna floated with her angelic aura.

"Oh come now, two Kings against one, that hardly seems fair." Damien laughed. "I guess I'll have wait out my plans." He stared right at Yuki. "So long, Golden King, I hope we have a real fight soon." The grey aura thickened into the fog and then released quickly once he was away.

Yuki threw down the sword and ran. "Hey wait!" Reisi called and followed her. Anna followed them too. Yuki ran calling out for Fushimi. She had no idea where she was running, did she?

Finally a groan answered her and she ran toward the curled up body of Fushimi. She carefully helped him sit up. "Damn it, I lost," his head rested comfortably on her shoulder. "I can't move."

"Don't worry, Fushimi," Yuki's voice was an attempt at being comforting. "You did what you could and you did a good job."

Fushimi laughed coldly. "Yeah, I did a good job separating us, didn't I? I gave in to their plan."

"But nobody could have known."

"Nobody could have known that you were the Gold King? That you were lying to us the whole time?" Yuki flinched at Fushimi's words. "They weren't harassing all of the Gold Clansman, were they? They were only after you and you put us all in danger knowing how strong they were!"

"Fushimi, that's enough!" Reisi finally snapped. He allowed the conversation to go that far because if Fushimi didn't say it he would or maybe even Anna. Somebody would have told her off. It was better if one of the Clansman did than someone who would scare her off.

Fushimi looked over her shoulder at him and then pushed her away but once his pillar wasn't there he couldn't sit up. Anna rushed over to hold him up. Yuki's face was one of shock and grief.

The whole walk to Scepter 4, Yuki stayed three steps behind. Anna stayed behind with her and, despite Fushimi's objections and squirming, Reisi carried the boy on his back.

He could barely hear the girl's conversation but he had a good idea of how it went.

"How did you know who I was?" Yuki whispered.

"Your aura is gold and kind of warm. Like the sun." Anna answered her.

"But you didn't tell anybody? Why? What do you have to gain?"

"I thought I could spare you from getting into a war, like you wanted. I was wrong, though, and I knew that too."

Anna was a smart girl for being so young. She was in High School now but she was also HOMRA's leader.

As soon as they walked into Scepter 4 HQ, nobody hesitated to flock to get Fushimi to the infirmary. While Fushimi was seeing a doctor over his injuries, Anna, Yuki, and Reisi walked to his office and the girls sat around the table. While the girls still whispered among themselves Reisi made green tea and carried the tea set across the room. When he finally sat down the girls stopped.

While he passed out the tea all was quiet except for the ticking of the clock. He folded his hands in front of himself and opened his mouth to speak but Yuki beat him to the punch. "You're wondering why I lied, right? You're gonna tell me to tell you my story or you can't help me. Then you're going to insist that I stay here with you in Scepter 4 until Damien stops coming after me or he's dead. That's what's going to happen, right?"

Once again, Reisi was impressed with the girl's intelligence. "You're sharp. Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say down to insisting that you stay here. Will you tell us, then?"

Yuki looked down at her tea, like she did the day before. "Yeah…I will. I'll tell you both all of it."


	7. 07: The Golden King

I knew Damien since we were in High School. The first year, a week after I moved schools, Damien proclaimed his love for me in front of everyone. It was embarrassing to reject him but he became a close friend afterwards. I told him at that time that he didn't even know what love was. His best friend, Akane, knew exactly what it was. She loved Damien, I could see it in her eyes. Eventually I realized that I loved him too. Three years ago I realized I loved Damien but I didn't have the heart to tell him.

Two years ago when the Slates were acting up Damien and Akane and I were crossing the street at night. Akane saw a car coming but only pushed Damien from its path. Him and I were walking side-by-side and next thing I knew I was tumbling over it.

I woke up in increments. When I first opened my eyes my head was in pain. It rang loudly. Damien was standing over me, his face in my face, and he was shouting something at me. Akane was looking at us, barely alive. She smiled at me and nodded. She understood Damien never loved her the same way and…she was okay with it.

When I woke again Damien was kissing me. Probably for good luck. I didn't feel the glass in my back and I didn't feel his kiss. I was dying. When he pulled away I formed my mouth to say the words I couldn't say before. If I said them, then I don't remember.

I woke one more time to see that my heart was giving out before surgery. I heard the monotonous screech and my soul left its body. It was warm, wherever I was headed to. I didn't go very far before I ran into an old friend, Daikokou, the former Gold King. His spirit, he explained, left him only days before then, but he wasn't ready to watch the Immortal King from a place he couldn't reach him.

When my body called back my soul, Daikokou reached out and took my arm and we were sucked into the same being. I was able to draw a line of where he was allowed to enter and so far, he's stayed there.

It shouldn't be possible, but it is. Two souls should never occupy the same house, but it is.

While I was awakening as the Gold King, though, something ominous was happening to Damien. In my coma after surgery Damien discovered he was the Grey King even after the Slates power was quelled. I still don't know what happened to make him go over the edge.

When I woke from my coma I saw the result of the Dresden Slates and swore I would never let chaos reign like that in me or my city. I found out from Damien that Akane died. Neither of us could speak very much after that. We couldn't even look at other people. We only had each other.

A few months after that, we were walking home from work. It had rained that day so we were racing through the streets to see if we could make it home before it rained again but he stopped us when we were alone. Nobody was around to see or hear his silly notion. "We need to use this power while we have it," he proclaimed. "Don't you see, with this power we could bring peace to the world!"

"How could we do that, Damien? We're barely adults." At first what he was saying was interesting.

Damien put his hands on my shoulders. "We could _make_ the world leaders do whatever we want with this power."

"That's borderline ruling the world," I laughed at him. I thought he was joking.

"Then that's what all the Kings should do. We could all rule the world." His grip was tightening and becoming painful. I realized then that he wasn't joking.

"We can't do that. With this power, Damien, we have to use it very sparingly. Only to protect our loved ones." His grip only tightened but his hands shook. Did he think I would have understood? "You're hurting me," my voice was oddly quiet then. The look in his bright green eyes was something darker. Something I didn't want to see. Something evil.

"You just don't see it, yet. The power that has been bestowed on us."

"Do you not remember the chaos that reigned when everybody had this power, Damien? That was chaos and now you wish to bring it back! I don't want that! Forget you're a King. Forget you have a Clan. Don't be apart of the war!"

He shoved me into the mud. It started to rain again that day. "So then you're against me. So be it but I'll make you see. I'll make you join, Golden King. I'll make you rule like a King. You cannot escape the war." The man I once loved is gone, I know that now. I've been running from him since that day. At first it started out as creepy phone calls, which turned into stalking, which as you know has turned into attempted kidnapping.

* * *

Yuki stopped her story and watched everyone. She expected to see judgment but never got any of that. Everyone was quiet and their eyes wouldn't meet hers. Yuki was afraid of saying anything herself. They sat in a long and awkward silence.


	8. 08: Beautiful Stranger

Anna stared at the Gold King for a very long time. She stared much longer than she should have because she wasn't sure what exactly to say. Nobody was sure what to say. She looked over at Reisi who was staring into his tea. His eyes flickered up only to see if Yuki was still waiting for them.

"Well say something." There was a hint of fear in Yuki's voice.

"More tea?" Reisi poured some tea into his own cup.

Yuki stared at Reisi then looked at the youngest girl with a question mark on her face. Anna answered her questioning look, "There isn't anything to say except that we'll find Damien, Yuki. You don't need to worry."

The lieutenant walked in the room without knocking. Anna considered that behavior rude but she bit her tongue and sipped her cold tea. "Lieutenant, how is Fushimi doing?" Reisi sipped his tea.

Seri stood at attention. Anna watched Yuki's face transform into disgust for a slight moment at how inappropriate her uniform was. Anna felt her lips turn upward into a smile but she hid it behind her cup and pretended to sip her tea.

"Fushimi is doing well, Captain. The doctors say he should be up and about soon. They don't want him going out into the field to do some work that will strain his body. They want him to do something easier tomorrow like driving a truck."

Reisi nodded. "Put him on Yuki's protective detail."

Seri had a shocked look on her face. She looked to Yuki then back at Reisi. "W-Why? He failed miserably."

The captain calmly sipped his tea. "He's the only one I trust to not make the same mistake twice, Seri. Don't argue with my decision." His voice had a finalized tone to it. There was absolutely no room for an argument.

Seri took out a deep breath and walked out.

Yuki's shoulder's slumped in relaxation and she finally took a drink of her now cold tea. Was this girl actually jealous of Seri? There was no reason for her to be! She had perfectly straight, purely blond hair and her eyes glowed like the Grey King's Sword of Damocles. She wasn't tanned but she wasn't too pale either. This woman was the perfect example of a beautiful girl but next to Seri she felt threatened. Maybe she even felt threatened by Anna's beauty.

Anna looked into her cup. The tealeaves settled in a peculiar pattern. They almost looked like a raven.

"Anna," Reisi's voice was like an annoying fly, "not to sound unpleasant but HOMRA and Scepter 4 are enemies and…" His voice trailed off. He was playing off as Mr. Nice Guy for his guest.

"I understand," Anna got to her feet, as did Reisi. "Will you walk me out? There is something I think we should still discuss."

Reisi nodded and looked at Yuki. A question played at his lips. Yuki stood. As if she understood the question she said, "Where's the infirmary? I want to visit Fushimi."

"Second floor. Someone there will show you where it is."

Yuki nodded and stalked out of the room ahead of the other two. They waited at the elevator. When Yuki was out of earshot Anna spoke. "HOMRA and Scepter 4 still would benefit from a secret relationship. The Grey clan will try to wedge us away even further without it. And your Sword is still too damaged. The Dresden Slates only fixed it for so long."

Reisi adjusted his glasses. There was sadness in his eyes. The elevator door opened and they stepped inside its confining boxed walls. "Yes, I know, Anna." He pushed the button for the first floor. "It's an unfortunate fate." He said simply, like a soldier. Still, he was longing for more. He was longing to have someone by his side when it happened.

"It doesn't have to be your fate, Reisi. Please, be careful."

"Are you really that worried about me, Anna?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't want you suffering a fate like Mikoto." They rode the elevator in silence until the number flashed a two. It stopped and opened to let some people on. Reisi was strange with this strange girl around. He was overly protective. He was more soldier-like than before. What would Mikoto say if he could see Reisi? Perhaps Mikoto's spirit was here and trying to ask him what Anna wanted to ask.

When Anna closed her eyes she could feel Mikoto's warm presence. She felt him hugging her and telling her how much he missed them. It comforted her to think that his spirit was here with them.

Finally, she whispered what she thought Mikoto would want to ask, "Why did you take such a special interest in this girl, Reisi? I want an honest answer, not an answer that beats around the bush."

Reisi simply smirked. "She's the Golden King, Anna. Why wouldn't I take special interest in her?"

However, she knew this was different and she was sure Reisi knew about her doubt in his words. He was so intent on keeping this girl, this stranger, so safe that he offered Scepter 4 and then he probably would have forced the Gold King to take his offer if she had refused. No, Reisi was different with this girl. What was it that made him so different? Mikoto would've known if he was here.


	9. 09: Cowardly King

Yuki got in the elevator alone and was nervous about speaking to someone about the infirmary the entire way to the second floor. However, to her surprise, everyone was actually pretty nice. Nobody was as harsh as Fushimi or Reisi for that matter.

She waited until the doctor was gone before she walked in. Fushimi didn't look too bad, not like she feared. A breath escaped that she suddenly realized she was holding back.

Fushimi stared out the window until he realized she pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed. "How are you feeling, Fushimi?" She asked. She couldn't mask the nervousness and she mentally chastised herself for it.

"Fine," he said it so short. It was like he was trying to cut her off for some reason. She couldn't think of any reason for him doing that.

"I'm sorry this happened," she whispered. "You're right in what you said. This is my fault." Yuki rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't dare look into Fushimi's glaring eyes. "I should have told everyone what was going on to begin with and because of my bad decision you got hurt."

At first there was silence. She stared only at his hands by his side. Her own started to shake in her lap. Then, there was laughter. He was laughing at her. "You're…so dumb."

Yuki's head shot up to meet his eyes. Even his eyes laughed at her. It wasn't the type that held warmth in it, this was cold, angry laughter. "What did you say?"

"You're. So. Dumb," he said it much slower as if she didn't understand the first time. "You're apologizing only because I yelled at you. Where was this apology before? I don't think you're really sorry, Yuki Aiko. I think you're just a _coward_."

She felt her face transform into anger. Her jaw locked in place and she tightened her hands into fists.

Fushimi pushed up his glassed and continued on without pausing. "I got hurt because you were trying to _run away_ from something you couldn't control. Is that what you've always done?" He leaned over the side of the bed so his face was in her face. He spoke slowly, "Have you always run away, Yuki?" Fushimi was mocking her.

Her hand came across his face and knocked his glasses off before she could stop it. She froze in realizing what she did.

"It seems to me that I've struck a nerve with the Gold King." He continued to mock her despite the red mark on his face. Fushimi retrieved his glasses from the floor.

Yuki stood and put the chair back in its place.

"Aww, are you leaving so soon, Yuki? I thought this talk was going so well." Fushimi just didn't know when to shut up!

Yuki stormed out of the room.

"You're running away again. I knew you would." His voice followed her as she stepped out of the room.

How could someone be so cruel? He reminded her of Damien. Yuki turned on her heels and ran.

"Where are you running to now?" Fushimi's voice trailed behind her. "There's nowhere for you to go!"

The tears held themselves back until she was alone again in the stairwell. She just ran. She continued to run. There was no such thing as "upstairs" or "downstairs" anymore there was only "run." So she climbed up the stairs as fast as she could until a door blocked her way. It wouldn't open. She slammed her body against it as hard as she could several times to try and get it open. It wouldn't open.

Finally, she was out of breath and energy and there was nothing left to do but sit on the steps and cry. The tears were hot with anger but some were like ice with what regrets she had left. She sat, crying alone for what felt like hours.

Alone. She was truly alone in the world now. Her parents died during the Dresden Slate incident. Their deaths were horrible. "Just a robbery gone wrong," the police told her that night. She ran away then too. She had gotten into a stupid argument with her parents about school and grades and she ran out of the house in her anger. Where has running gotten her? It's only put others in danger now.

Yuki finally realized that she ran upstairs and attempted to get access to the roof. Of course, there was no getting roof access because it was locked so she sat on the bottom of the first flight of stairs that reached the roof.

Reisi's footsteps echoed quietly as they approached her. They stopped in front of her before he sat next to her. "Finally, I found you," he huffed. "Did you run all the way up here? That's a lot of stairs to climb." He waited for an answer but never got one. He sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one of them out and then held out the rest of the pack to her. There were only 5 left. "I don't suppose you smoke."

Yuki shook her head and he put them back in the pocket of his jacket. From the same pocket he brought out a lighter and lit it up. He took a deep breath in, then slowly released the smoke from his mouth. "You know, I used to have a good friend that smoked a lot," the information seemed to be random but Yuki listened intently still. "The very last time we met was the first time we smoked together before we fought. It's been over three years and I still can't believe Anna replaced him."

Yuki looked away. There were no words she could offer him to console him.

"So, what did Fushimi say that made you run all the way up here?"

The tears came back and they were stubborn. No matter how many times she blinked they only overflowed from the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away. "Nothing he didn't say earlier," Yuki choked out. Reisi said nothing so she continued. "He's kind of right, though. Still, I didn't expect it to sound so…"

"Cruel?" Reisi inhaled more smoke. He blew it out in a ring. "Fushimi can be a bit cruel sometimes but I promise he means well."

Yuki shook her head.

Reisi put a hand on her shoulder. "I know it must not seem like it right now but Fushimi really is a good kid."

Finally, Yuki couldn't resist. She just wanted someone to comfort her. Without any self-control she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder and cried. At first she felt him tense and she was fearful that he would push her away but he never did. Instead he put both of his arms around her and held her close. He allowed her to just cry and scream. She heard her sobs echo in the stairwell. She wondered for a moment if anyone else could hear but she didn't stop to ponder long before new tears spilled out. She cried for a very long time before she finally stopped but even then they never let go of their embrace.

Finally, Reisi picked her up and stretched his legs. His cigarette was long gone now. He carried her all the way to the next immediate floor and before he opened the door he set her down. "All better?" He wasn't rushing Yuki.

Still Yuki nodded and wiped her face before he opened the door back into the building. She refused to leave Reisi's side. Reisi led her to Fushimi's infirmary room. When she realized that she stopped but he took hold of her hand with a strong grip and half dragged her to his room.

When they walked in a doctor was checking on his injuries and Reisi dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Fushimi just looked at Reisi like he was waiting for orders. Yuki hid behind him and tried to shake her hand out of his grip but it only made him tighten his grip. He pulled her out from behind him and pushed her forward gently.

"I believe you owe this young lady an apology, Fushimi."

Her breath froze. Yuki was afraid Fushimi would do the opposite.

Instead, Fushimi pushed up his glasses and bowed his head as if he were ashamed but he was merely hiding the smallest of smirks. "I apologize for my behavior earlier, Miss Aiko. Whatever I said wasn't intended to hurt you." He watched her from the top of his glasses. Was he expecting her to run away? At the same time he looked to be glaring at his King.

Reisi put a hand on Yuki's arm.

None of this comforted her. Fushimi still thought of her as a coward. Did the Blue King thing the same thing of her? Maybe everyone in Scepter 4 did.

Yuki didn't hear any of their conversation, she watched Fushimi closely like he would attack her at any moment.

Fushimi's eyes held a look she's only seen in one person before but she pushed aside the thought. Jealousy couldn't be the look she saw. It must've been anger. What would Fushimi have to be jealous about?

Whatever Yuki saw Reisi saw the same thing because he moved his hand from her arm to her hand. He had a glint of masked mischievousness when he did. Fushimi's body tensed and it made him wince.

"You should take it easy, Fushimi. Tomorrow you'll be on duty." Reisi released her finally and put a hand on her lower back and gently pushed her forward to walk with him. A smirk immediately spread across his face.

"Were you messing with him?" Yuki had to ask.

"Was it that obvious? I thought I was pretty good at masking my feelings."

Yuki shrugged. "It was obvious to me maybe not so much to him. Where are we going?" They reached the elevator and Reisi pressed the button to the top floor where his office was.

"I'm going to show you your room, Miss Aiko." His smile held genuine warmth, like the sun and like her Sword of Damocles. "Is that alright?"

Yuki nodded. When she was with him she was calm and she felt like she could melt into his arms.

Her room was very plainly decorated. It was kept extremely clean as well, though. She suddenly realized when she opened the closet door that she would need to go shopping in the morning. "Reisi, thank-" she turned around but he was gone. Once again she was left all alone with her thoughts and Fushimi's voice. _Have you always run away, Yuki Aiko?_


	10. 10: Mistaken King

Reisi was gathering the last of his paperwork to put away for the night when Fushimi came in dressed in his uniform. "Didn't I tell you to rest, Fushimi?" He barely looked up at the boy. This boy had some nerve walking in his office after what he put Yuki through!

Fushimi shrugged. "The doctors let me go," it was a lie. Fushimi's tick was always the twitch on the left side of his mouth into a small smile.

Reisi went back to half organizing his papers. "Still, you should rest. I think Yuki is going to want to go out tomorrow."

The boy folded his arms. "It's Yuki now? When did you become so formal with your guest, Captain?" Now there was a smile that crept over his face.

He didn't even notice the slip of the tongue until it was pointed out. "Go, Fushimi. That's an order not a request."

Fushimi shrugged and walked away. "Fine, I guess I'll go see the girl myself."

Reisi knew he wouldn't do it. Still, even the thought of Fushimi near Yuki while she was still hurting made him want to punch the boy. Why did he even put Fushimi on her protective detail? It suddenly felt like a very stupid idea. So stupid that he stood and punched the wall. The sharp pain shot up his arm and he winced and stepped back quickly. It didn't feel like he broke it but it was extremely painful.

As quick as he could he brought up a security camera from Yuki's room on his computer. Everything was dark except for the light of the moon that splashed over her. Relief washed over Reisi. What exactly was he worried about, though? He knew Fushimi wouldn't go near her. Still, he felt relieved that Yuki was alone and that she slept. She slept in a fetal position and she slept very tense. She's been running from this Damien for such a long time. He wondered if this was the first time she's really ever gotten sleep.

Then, from the edge of the room Fushimi's silhouette came into view. Reisi tensed and Yuki's body tensed more. Was she awake?

"Did you come to call me a coward some more?" She asked.

Fushimi jumped back. "No," he regained his composure. "No, I came to check up on you."

Yuki moved so her back was to him but she went back to hugging her knees to her chest. Fushimi walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. His hand twitched toward her but he kept it firmly in his lap. "Why?" She finally asked.

Fushimi shrugged. He kept a cool composure even though his hands were shaking. Reisi's never seen him like this before. Why was this boy suddenly so uncollected?

The door opened and Reisi quickly shut the laptop as if he were guilty of watching porn. Seri tried not to laugh but her mouth still twitched in amusement. "Did you need anything else from me tonight, sir?"

Reisi shook his head. He wasn't going to send Seri down to do something he should be doing. "No, thank you." He shut off the light but Seri didn't leave. "Is there anything you needed?"

Seri seemed taken off guard with the poisonous tone. "Is everything alright, sir?"

He nodded and walked past her. "Lock up my office when you leave," he ordered. He was walking away too quickly but he suddenly felt the need to protect this girl. This girl he hardly knew. Why was he so worried?

No, wait, he knew. He knew exactly why even if he didn't want to admit it. He especially didn't want to admit it to Seri. The feelings he held for this stranger would pass eventually. He could never have a relationship for too long.

For a moment he wondered if this is what Anna saw when she was staring up at him with that curious look.

He walked to Yuki's room but stopped at the door to listen. When he heard nothing he peaked in and tried to watch the best he could. Yuki was still looking away from him. Fushimi now allowed his hand to fall on her arm.

The pain in Reisi's fist was back. He just wanted to get Fushimi away.

"Why are you really here, Fushimi?" Yuki held poison in her tone.

Reisi could hear a smirk on Fushimi's face. "I knew it would upset the Captain." He finally admitted.

"You're trying to piss off your King?" She sounded disgusted.

Fushimi shrugged. "Maybe I'm trying to piss you off too."

Yuki sat up and pushed him off the bed. "Get out!" She hissed.

Fushimi laughed. "You're actually fighting. Good. That's good. That means you won't run. Are you finally tired of running?"

"I'm tired of listening to you, Fushimi." She stood. Her hands were glowing with a yellow aura. "You're starting to sound like Damien. You're exactly like he was before he became so…!" Yuki's voice started to break into sobs but she tried to hold everything together.

"I'm nothing like that psychopath," Fushimi hissed at her.

She charged at him. Fushimi let her hit him. He was flung against the door and it slammed in Reisi's face. Nothing happened for a few minutes. "Please, Fushimi," she sounded like she was crying now. "If you're nothing like Damien then leave."

There was silence for a long time. Reisi wished he could see what was going on. "Wh-What are you dong, Fushimi? Stop it! Put me down!" Reisi tried to get in but the door was locked. Why was it locked?

"Geeze, I can't do one nice thing for you can I? Well, sleep tight, princess." Fushimi's voice held as much hate as he could have.

"You are worse than Damien!" She yelled at him.

"Yeah, I know." He sounded like he was pleased with the outcome.

The door opened and Fushimi came face-to-face with Reisi. He was surprised to see him out in the hall but then again he almost looked like he expected it as well. "She's fine," he informed. "I didn't harm her, if that's what you think."

"Fushimi, you'll be reassigned tomorrow."

Fushimi pushed up his glasses and actually glared at him. Reisi glared back. They had an intense stare down. "Then who will be in charge of her protective order?"

"I will be, of course, until I can find someone better suitable than you."

The boy shook his head and stormed childishly down the hall. Inside, Yuki was sitting up in bed. "Are you okay, Yuki?"

"How did you know he was here?" She sounded more pissed at him than at Fushimi. Before he could answer she looked up at him. "Were you watching us?"

Reisi pointed at a security camera.

She shook her head. Her whole body shook with anger. Maybe he shouldn't have come to her room. Yuki said nothing else so Reisi took a step inside but as soon as he did she threw a pillow at him. Reflexively he pulled back. "You are worse than he is!" She screamed. "You couldn't have just left me alone! I thought I was safe here!"

"You are," he picked up the pillow but had another one thrown at him.

"You're making it seem like otherwise. Reisi, I don't want you on my protective detail. I don't want any of that. I won't be needing it."

Her words troubled him.

"Just go."

Whatever happened to the tender moment in the stairwell was gone. He set the pillow on the inside of the door and shut it. Yuki, he knew, would try to run tonight as soon as she had the chance. Then, she'd be prey to Damien. If she escaped she'd go to HOMRA. Anna would take care of her there.

Reisi messed up. He messed up royally and there was no easy way to fix it.


	11. 11: Girls day

Yuki tried her best to leave but each time she was about to leave the room she could hear Fushimi call her a coward. It made her angry. She wasn't a coward! At least not anymore and the only way she could prove it was by staying. She was also secretly hoping that it would piss him off to no end.

Then there was Reisi spying on her. Did he really not trust her? It pained her to think that he would offer up his HQ only to turn around and watch her. So, Yuki threw everything she could until the camera snapped off and hung by a single wire that eventually snapped.

When Reisi came into the room the next morning he was so startled by her movement that he nearly dropped his mug. The anger she had the night before was gone now that the camera lay on the ground.

Reisi cleared his throat. "I wasn't expecting you to be…up yet." He half lied.

Yuki walked to the corner of the room quietly and picked up the camera and held it out to him.

"You broke my camera." He took it.

"Yep. Don't put another one here or you'll be out two more cameras," She went back to making her bed.

"S-Sorry about that." Reisi forgot momentarily about the coffee and spilled it down his back when he tried to rub his neck. It made him jump forward.

Yuki stopped. Her eyes were daggers. "Do you really not trust me that much, Reisi?"

"N-No that isn't it at all! I got into an argument with Fushimi. I thought he was going to hurt you."

Yuki folded her arms and sighed. "I guess I'm better suited to stay with the Red Clan if you are thinking the Blue is going to hurt me." Without saying another word she walked out and walked to the stairs. She needed to get outside to Anna. Reisi followed her and chased her down the stairs.

When she opened the door to the first-floor hall he closed it and wouldn't move his hand to allow her to open the door. She turned and his other hand came to rest on the other side so that she had nowhere to escape to. The cool composure of the Blue King was gone.

"I'm sorry, I thought that…" He couldn't get himself to say the rest of the sentence. "It isn't that I don't trust you."

"Then what is it, Reisi?" She whispered the words. She felt breathless. Her voice was gone.

He couldn't look at her. Did he even know?

Yuki took his head in her hands and lifted it so she was looking into his eyes. "Am I in danger here?" She asked simply.

"No," he was just as breathless as she felt.

"Then there was no reason…was there?" She searched his eyes. There was the tiny flash. Something that she thought she saw in Fushimi. It was a look Damien used to give her but this couldn't have been the same look. She took her hands away. "I'm meeting Anna. I have to go, Reisi."

He still wouldn't move. "Are you coming back?" He asked her.

Yuki nodded reluctantly. "One more chance. If you even give off a hint that I'm not safe here, Reisi, I'm going to HOMRA. They seem to trust each other there."

Reisi nodded. "I understand," he whispered. There was something more lingering in his eyes. Whatever it was he shook the thought out of his head and opened the door. Yuki walked out and met Anna outside.

Anna waited with the boy Fushimi got into a fight with a few days before. What did Fushimi call this boy? Misaki? He didn't seem to like being called Misaki, though.

Anna gestured to the red headed boy. "You remember Misaki Yata, right?"

Yuki nodded. "Yeah, Fushimi got you all worked up so he could fight you. I remember."

Misaki turned a little bit red and he looked away. "I admit it wasn't my finest hour," he breathed out the words in an exhale.

"He's…kind of easy to get angry at, though. I think everyone could be in much worse shape, Yata."

The smile was all Misaki needed, it seemed. His smile transformed his face from being so serious to being a little bit like a happy teenager. "You can just call me Misaki," he said.

"You didn't like it when Fushimi called you that?" Yuki folded her arms. Misaki's smile was suddenly gone and he turned away from her.

"That's a different story." He started walking before Anna or Yuki. The two girls followed a few steps behind.

The streets were extremely busy during the weekend. Anna explained all about Fushimi's betrayal and their battered friendship. Yuki couldn't look at Anna after her story. "I see. So it's a lot more than just getting someone worked up."

Anna nodded and we walked into a small store. It was almost out of place among the tall buildings but Anna insisted that it was better than the ones in the mall. Inside there was hardly anyone except for the workers. In one section there were clothes that were perfectly fit for Anna. The other side had clothes that would fit anyone older than 16. In the back was an area with changing rooms and couches in front of those rooms. Misaki went straight for the couches and sat down.

Anna went straight to the red gothic dresses and Yuki went on the other side of the store. What kind of clothes should she even get? In the past she would just wear uniforms or she would wear baggy shirts on the weekends. Her closet wasn't comprised of much else.

Despite being attracted to the golden colored clothes she knew they wouldn't look very good on her. On the clearance rack a few things did catch her attention, though, and one shirt in particular she found very beautiful. Yuki grabbed a few shirts and walked to one of the changing rooms.

The first shirt she tried on was blue with golden dragons and decorating it. It had a kimono-style to it. The next one she tried on was similar but it was red with golden lotuses.

Anna knocked on the door. "Did you find some that you liked?"

"Yeah. Would you like to see?" Yuki opened the door. Anna had piled a few new dresses on Misaki's lap. Next to Misaki, however, sat Fushimi. The anger from the night before started to bubble up again.

"Wow! That looks beautiful on you, Yuki!" The girl was amazed.

Yuki looked down at herself. "You really think so?" She couldn't help but abandon the anger and grin. The two boys setting on opposite ends of the couch were both had tints to their cheeks and refused to look at her.

Finally Misaki spoke, "It… looks really nice."

Yuki grinned and stepped back into the changing room. She didn't really wait to see if Fushimi had anything to say. Truthfully, she wished he'd go back to Scepter 4. She bought whatever she picked out.

The four of them walked back outside. Misaki led the group and Anna followed half behind him. Fushimi walked next to Yuki. It took most of her energy to not punch him.

"What are you doing here?" Yuki finally had the courage and energy to ask.

Fushimi shrugged. "I was just in the area and I saw Misaki through the window." Misaki's back visibly tensed. Fushimi grinned. He was sly like a fox. "You didn't think I actually came because you were here, did you?" His voice was full of mock.

She rolled her eyes. "No. I just didn't expect to see you here. I thought for sure Reisi would've kept you busy."

"There isn't much to do here. He would've only been able to keep me busy for so long." Fushimi stopped but Yuki kept going to cross the street. Fushimi grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What?" She snapped.

"Scepter 4 is this way. The way you're going you'll be at HOMRA."

Yuki forced her arm away. "Yeah. So? Did you think all I had planned was shopping?" The same smirk Fushimi enjoyed started to appear on her face. The one that Fushimi always had and the one that seemed to anger him just the same as everybody else. His hand hovered over his sword while he followed her across the street.

Anna tilted her head with a questioning look. Yuki just kept walking, though. She felt proud that she was able to get Fushimi all worked up too.


	12. 12: Missed

Everyone was on edge about having Fushimi around. While Anna was putting her bags away in her room above the bar several of the red members approached her about perhaps kicking out her "new friend" to get Fushimi to leave. She understood why they would think that was the best solution but if Mikoto were here with her he'd sit right next to her and tell everyone else to leave if they felt uncomfortable.

"Mikoto, you'll make me lose business," she imagined Izumo saying to him.

In her imagination she could see Mikoto unintentionally making Yuki uncomfortable with how close he sat and with his arm draped behind her on the back of the couch. He would smirk and answer, with a cigarette in his mouth, "What business?"

"Anna," Yata's voice made her jump and turn around. He was taken aback with the tears on her face and he ran over and knelt in front of her. He was always so worried about her. "A-Are you okay?"

Anna nodded and wiped away the tears. "I just…miss him so much, Yata." She admitted in a whisper.

Yata's smile was full of memories that told her he missed Mikoto just as much. He hugged her tightly with both of his arms. "Yeah, I miss him too."

Anna buried her head in his chest.

Downstairs they heard something break, and Yuki scream in surprise. Both Anna and Yata ran downstairs only to see Fushimi being punched by one of the members. "Would both of you quit it?" The bright, golden aura shot out from Yuki like a bubble that sent both boys flying against the wall.

"What happened?" Anna asked Izumo while Yata ran over to help his clansman up.

Izumo sighed and nodded toward the boy. "He told Miss Aiko here to get out or he'd make her. In so many unpleasant words Fushimi told him that he'd have to go through him so that's exactly what he did. A fight started and then you two came down just as she broke it all up. I kind of wish she did it a few minutes sooner, though. They broke one of my chairs."

Anna turned to the boy and put her hands on her hips. She new she wasn't intimidating but it was enough for the boy to flinch. "I think she broke my nose," the boy said.

"Who is he?" Anna had to ask Izumo. She couldn't remember everyone unless they were grandfathered in from Mikoto.

"That's Jubei. The newest clansman, remember?" Izumo whispered before walking to check on Fushimi.

Anna suddenly remembered Jubei. The boy came in six months ago and begged forever to join her clan. He was the rich kid whose brother served the now inactive Green Clan. He was nearly to J-rank. Didn't he have another sibling? Anna couldn't remember.

"Jubei," she snapped and he stood at attention.

He was quick to read her face. "He disrespected us. What was I supposed to do? Let him?"

"Yes," Yuki's voice was getting to be more noticeable. Anna wondered what happened to bring about such a change in her. "Because I was about to defend you, Jubei. I would have if you hadn't thrown that chair at us."

Jubei turned to her and looked like he was about to say something but he thought it better to be quiet.

So Yuki continued. "Anna and Misaki and…well most everyone else here have been nothing but nice to me so why would I just sit back and allow Fushimi to be disrespectful. On the flip side I would just as quickly defend Scepter 4."

"You've just lost your crowd," Izumo whispered to Yuki just as Eric Soto stood from his chair.

"You can't defend both, Yuki. Either you're with HOMRA or you're against it." Everyone else yelled in agreement.

Yuki looked slightly taken aback with the comment. Suddenly, her words were lost and she was panicking at finding them again. Izumo spoke up for her and Anna silently thanked him with a nod. "What about the Silver King?"

Now Soto looked like he was panicking for words. "Well…that's different. He's supposed to remain neutral. He's the First King. Picking sides would be…kind of uncool."

Izumo laughed. "Well, this is the Gold King, Soto. The Second King." He put a hand on Yuki's shoulder. Fushimi glared at the back of his head. "And she's under both HOMRA and Scepter 4's protection so wouldn't it be kind of uncool for her to choose sides as well?"

"Well…um…" Soto sat back down.

"Anyone else have any problems?" Izumo looked around the room with a triumphant grin. "I know you all don't like Fushimi's presence but he's here under Reisi's orders. Besides, it could be much worse. Reisi himself could be here." Everyone in the room shuffled from one foot to the other in an uneasy way. "Or would you all rather have the Blue King here himself?"

Everyone said in unison, "No, sir."

Izumo had always been very good with the boys and with speeches. "Don't mind them, okay? Stay as long as you'd like, Miss Aiko."

"Thank you, Kusanagi. However, I think Fushimi and I should be going now." She whispered. "The doctor said Fushimi shouldn't be doing a whole lot and fighting counts, I think." Yuki looked over at Anna and smiled. "Thanks, Anna, for shopping with me."

Anna nodded with a smile. "We should do it again soon." Truthfully, Anna was glad to have a girl friend. Secretly she actually enjoyed shopping.

Yuki nodded. "You bet." Both she and Fushimi walked outside. The sun was still very high in the air. Something about the air didn't seem right. It looked different when she looked out the window.

"Rain," Izumo answered her thoughts for her. "It'll rain soon."

Anna nodded. Maybe that was it. It was going to rain.


	13. 13: Rainy Days

Yuki and Fushimi walked in silence. The bubble of hostility seemed to keep people on the other side of the street. Yuki sighed and looked in the sky. The air was extremely humid yet there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Would it rain?

While in her thoughts Fushimi grabbed her hand suddenly and pulled her with him in an alley.

"Fushimi!" She scolded but his hand quickly came over her mouth and he pinned her against the wall. What was going on?

"Quiet," he whispered, watching the people pass them. He kept her pinned but he moved his body as if to shield her in all directions. From the corner of her eye she barely saw Damien walk past with a child about Anna's age attached to him. Yuki wanted to run but she didn't want to make any sounds either. Once he was gone she relaxed. "Where's Juno?" Fushimi whispered to himself.

Juno, that's right! Yuki almost forgot about him.

Fushimi cried out in pain and nearly came down on top of her but he used what strength he had in both of his hands to keep him upright. He released her and held himself against the wall.

"Fushimi!" Yuki cried.

He fell to his knees. A knife was in his back. "Go back," he choked out through the pain.

Yuki knelt to take the knife out but he pushed her away. "Go! I'll be okay." She saw he was lying, though.

"'Go! Go! Go away' oh could you be any more repetitive?" Juno jumped the short distance from the roof to the ground. His hands were in his pockets.

Fushimi's body shook. He was loosing a lot of blood quickly. Yuki stood between him and Juno and abandoned her bags. Slowly she raised her hands so her palms were out but her second finger and her thumb connected. In the diamond shape her hands made there was a ball of yellow light. Juno had slowly made his way toward them the entire time.

"Don't take another step!" She warned.

"Or what? You'll shoot? Go ahead," Juno didn't believe her words.

Yuki released the light in a single ray. It shot out and hit Juno's shoulders. "Wh-What?" His eyes widened in surprise.

Yuki took this opportunity to put Fushimi's arm around her shoulder and half drag him toward the mouth of the alley. Then there was a sharp pain that spread from between her shoulder blades. It felt like a paper cut but at the same time it felt like a knife. The pain went away shortly. Soon she could feel her muscles weaken and she fell with Fushimi still in her arms.

"Miss Aiko!" Fushimi's voice rang when her head hit the concrete. She was staring at his worried eyes. His hand came toward her face. "Miss Aik-" He grimaced when Juno stepped on his hand.

She couldn't move. She tried desperately to move but she couldn't.

"What did you do to her?" Fushimi choked out the words.

"Just a bit of a paralysis." Juno's hands wrapped around her waist and picked her up. He threw her onto his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. She could barely feel the blood dripping onto the ground. "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. You, on the other hand, have a bit of poison. I can't guarantee you'll live." Juno calmly walked out of the alley.

"Miss Aiko! Miss Aiko you have to move!" In his eyes Yuki could see that he knew this was all he could do. He knew she wouldn't move. "Yuki!" If she could cry she would've.

Juno carried her that way until the look people were giving him got to his nerves. "Can't have them thinking we're kidnapping anyone," he muttered while he moved Yuki to a bridal style of carrying.

Yuki stared at the sky. The sun was being covered with clouds quickly. _I guess it will rain today._


	14. 14: Help

Anna was surprised to see Yata carrying Fushimi willingly into HOMRA. Fushimi was passed out and both boys were soaking. The blue clansman looked pale and Yata looked worried and scared. Anna had never seen Yata scared before. Dried blood was smeared onto Fushimi's uniform.

"What happened?" Izumo rushed over as Yata set Fushimi on the couch.

"From what I picked up he's been poisoned. He was attacked when he sensed Damien coming from behind them and they got Yuki too."

Izumo stopped momentarily and stared at Yata. Then he rolled Fushimi onto his side to investigate the wound. "How long has he been out there?"

Yata shrugged. "Thirty minutes, maybe. He's still weak from his last fight with Juno so he went down pretty quickly. It made the Gold King an easier target when she insisted on not leaving him." Yata's hands balled in a fist. "We need to find the bastards that did this!" He exclaimed.

"We don't know where their headquarters are," Izumo said. He started to collect some blood on some cotton and he put it all in plastic bags.

"Anna, you can find them right?" Yata tried to look as hopeful as he could but it was gone with Anna's words.

"I can't guarantee, Yata, but I will try."

Izumo held out the bag to Yata. "In the meantime, Yata, take this to Scepter 4. Their labs can identify the poison and how to treat it. Bring me back the report as quickly as you can. This poison seems to be spreading quickly."

Yata had a determined look and he took the bag. Before he went out the door Fushimi gasped, "Mi-sa-ki," he said the syllables slowly like he couldn't breathe. Yata ran over to him. Anna could barely hear Fushimi whispering. "You have to find her quickly, Misaki. Please." Fushimi grabbed the front of his shirt like he was threatening the red clansman. "And when you get her don't let them take her."

Yata had a shocked look on his face. He whispered, "Fushimi, do you…?" He didn't need to say the rest of it. His friend and enemy understood and wouldn't look at him. His face tinted a pink for only a moment before he started to sweat. The sweat must have been due to the poison, Anna concluded.

"Just go, you idiot." He said breathlessly.

Yata nodded. "Don't worry, Saruhiko, I'll get her back safe and sound." This was a type of determination Anna rarely saw in Misaki Yata. When he left she went to her room, took up a marble in her hand and looked through it.

She could see Juno laying the Gold King on a bed. She looked asleep. She wished she could hear if he was speaking and what he was saying. For now this would be all she could see. This didn't show them their location.

* * *

Reisi was taken aback by Seri's report. Yata was outside of his office with a disturbing report about Fushimi and Yuki. "Send him in," he told Seri quickly.

Yata came in when Seri left. He didn't look like he was comfortable being around the enemy. Reisi motioned him to come closer so he did until he was a few feet in front of the desk. Reisi tried to keep cool, calm, collected, he folded his hands with his elbows on his desk like he normally would but he was visibly shaking. "So, what's this I hear about a report, Misaki Yata?" Even his voice shook between neutral and anger.

Yata could sense it too. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. He was tense as if he were ready to run if Reisi suddenly threw something. "I didn't get the details entirely but from what I could get it sounds like Fushimi was escorting Yuki back here. He was trying to play it safe but he got attacked. Yuki wouldn't leave him and it made her an easy target. Fushimi was poisoned and Yuki, from what it sounds like, was paralyzed. Besides a wound on her back she sounds unharmed but Fushimi…he…" Yata's body started shaking in the same way Reisi's did. However, the red clansman shook out of anger for his once best friend. The blue King shook because Juno took the woman he cared about. She was someone under _his_ protection.

"What was Fushimi doing with her? I fired him from her protective detail," he demanded as if that were the point of the story.

"How the hell should I know?" Yata screamed. "Look, if you aren't gonna do anything then just give me the poison report so I can leave and heal your clansman and rescue Yuki. Otherwise, you can focus on that later!"

He was right. The printer started printing. Reisi grabbed the papers and took a look. "Here's your poison report." He stood. "I'll be coming with you."


	15. 15: Helpless

Yuki finally woke to the sound of rain and thunder. She was finally able to move her head around but she tried to keep the movement limited in case Damien was nearby. The sun's rays somehow still got through the suns clouds lighting everything in grey. The room looked grey and empty.

All Yuki could think about was Fushimi. He was a cruel boy. However, he still tried to protect her. She needed to get back to Scepter 4 or HOMRA safely.

Slowly Yuki found the energy to sit up. The lightening lit up the room more. In a dark corner of the room Juno sat on a chair, sleeping. So she wasn't alone after all.

The door by Juno opened and he woke up and looked up. "You should've let me do that, King." He whispered.

"It's been a while since I cooked," Damien sauntered inside.

"I bet it still tastes like crap too," Yuki forced out the words. This time she wouldn't show fear. He liked when people showed fear. She couldn't give that to him this time.

Damien nearly jumped back. His smile still held no warmth but he tried his best. "You're awake. That's good."

"That mean's I get $5, Damien." Juno held out his hand and Damien grudgingly put the money in his hand. Then, he walked over with the plate of food. On the plate was a failed onigiri and burnt fish.

Yuki sighed. Damien had never been a good cook for as long as she knew him. "Where's the kitchen?" If she was going to eat she'd at least eat something decent. Damien was surprised by the question but Juno sat on the edge of his seat.

When they escorted her into the kitchen Juno sat on the counter and toyed with his knife as Yuki cooked fresh fish and rice. Damien watched from the bar.

Halfway through Yuki felt a tingling sensation travel up her legs and she crashed on the floor. Her arms saved her head from going through another concussion experience. She wanted to see Fushimi appear next to her but Damien did instead. _Fushimi, I hope you're okay._

"Are you alright?" Damien lifted her head and held her in his arms.

"It must be the paralytic. Some of it may still be lingering." Juno walked over to the fish to check on it. "Nothing to do now except let it pass. I'm sorry I should have known earlier," yet there was the smallest, pleased smile on his face. He flipped the fish. "Fish is done." He put it on a plate with the rice.

Damien helped her over to the table and the two boys ate. Yuki didn't bother touching the food despite her stomach twisting painfully. Instead, she watched the rain outside. From this apartment she could see Scepter 4's light beaming from on top of the building. She wanted to reach out and touch it. She wanted to run to it.

"Hey," Damien's hand moved her arm. "Eat," he commanded. "You won't have time to eat later."

"I'm not hungry," she finally admitted. Yuki couldn't stop looking at Scepter 4.

Damien followed her line of sight and scowled. He got up and closed all of the curtains. "Can you take her back to her room when you're done, Juno? I've got a meeting with the Green King to go to."

Juno nodded. "Yes, of course. Have fun!" They watched as Damien walked out. Juno ate his rice.

"Green King?" Yuki's eyebrows knitted together and Juno nodded. "Who's the Green King?"

Juno smirked a little, "It wouldn't be any fun to tell you who it is. You'll just have to wait and see."

Yuki couldn't stand on her own still. She had to be carried by Juno. She hated even the thought of it! There wasn't much she could do about it. Her legs were still numb. He set her gently on the bed.

Her shoulder blades started to ache. She tried to reach around to rub the wound but it only made it hurt worse. She winced.

"Let me take a look at your wound," Juno offered but Yuki slapped his hand away.

"I'm fine," she snapped.

Juno had an evil smirk. "You aren't worried about that boy, are you? Why? There's no reason to." He sat on the bed because he knew she couldn't go anywhere and he knew it would make her uncomfortable.

Yuki used any energy she had to not move away or punch him. "You poisoned him and left him to die. Why wouldn't I be worried?"

Juno laughed and stood. Why was he laughing? He put his hands on his hips. "He's beneath you. You should only be worried about the kings. Not clansman."

Yuki grabbed the closest object, an alarm clock, and ripped it from its outlet and threw it at him. Juno dodged it easily. This wasn't surprising. She brought her hand up and shot a ray of golden aura at Juno.

"That trick doesn't work twice," Juno released his grey, foggy aura. Yuki couldn't see through it. Immediately she moved toward the window by the bed but she was only able to get the window open before a sharp pain went up through her shoulder blades, starting at the wound and working upward. The pain stunned her for a moment but a moment was all he needed. Juno grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back, away from the window. He forced her to crash on the floor and her whole spine burned.

"Juno!" Damien snapped and the fog vanished. Damien looked like a demon. He looked angry and possessive. Next to him was an extremely feminine man with a parrot on his shoulder.

Yuki couldn't move as Damien made his way toward her. She wanted to but the burning in her spine proved to be overwhelming. It clouded her vision and made her dizzy. Her stomach churned uneasily with the pain.

"Beating up an injured woman. How tacky." The feminine man mocked Juno and the bird squawked as if to mock him too.

Juno was frightened. "I can explain, Damien. She attacked me and tried to escape. I didn't have much choice."

Damien helped Yuki to sit up then looked at the open window. His hands on her shoulders tightened and there was even more burning in her shoulders. She winced. "Lock the window, then." He ordered Juno. "Or find her another room."

Juno nodded and he shut the window. He went about the room making sure all of them were shut and locked.

"If they lock on the inside then she could still escape, Damien." The feminine man said.

Juno pointed to something outside of the door. Yuki didn't remember seeing anything outside of the room so she couldn't figure out what it was until Juno explained. "Alarm system. It locks and unlocks everything in this room. So, she can't open the windows without the security key when it's armed."

Damien helped her on the bed. Her legs tingled again as if it had fallen asleep. She started rubbing her leg and wouldn't look up. She couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. She hated everyone who helped Damien.

A hand grabbed her chin and forced her head up. Yuki looked into Damien's grassy green eyes. The eyes that used to remind her of a meadow now reminded her of evil. _Power corrupts everyone_ , she remembered Damien saying to her once before all of this happened.

"Don't try escaping again. I can't promise you any more paralytics will be used from this point forward and it would be such a shame if you had to die." A small knife scraped the surface of her skin at her neck. When it pricked her neck she could feel the sudden burning. This was different from the burning on her spine. This felt like he set her on fire. She couldn't stop the gasp and she started to kick him away.

Damien let her go and backed away with the first kick. He put the knife away and handed her a small bottle of what looked like gel. "Antidote," he said simply as he walked out the door. Before he shut the door the bird flew in quietly.

The locking of the door was loud.

"Golden King. Golden King," the parrot cried.

Yuki spread the gel on her neck and soon the burning stopped.

"Injured. Injured," the parrot flew in circles over her before landing on her shoulder and squawking. "Injured. Injured."

"I'm fine," she answered it. "You know you can't escape, right? They probably won't let you out."

The parrot preened itself. "Plan. Plan."

Yuki tilted her head. "Name?"

"Gojou. Yukari. Gojou. Yukari. Kotosaka."

"Well, which one are you? Gojou, Yukari, or Koto?"

"Koto, Koto. Koto, Koto. Danger!" The parrot flew around the room repeating the word danger.

Yuki couldn't help but laugh at it. It didn't say the word danger seriously. In fact, Koto the parrot swooped down and grabbed pieces of her hair, pulled it up until she was on her feet and let go and repeated the entire process all the while repeating danger. The game didn't stop until Yuki caught the bird and held it close to her chest. She was laughing. She was actually enjoying herself and she laughed until she cried.

Koto made a small, almost questioning cooing sound. He wiggled himself from her grip. She never stopped crying until the storm finally stopped


	16. 16: Alone

Reisi watched Izumo apply the antidote. Izumo seemed to understand the sheet perfectly unlike Anna and Yata. Fushimi's body still looked tense but once the antidote started to work his body relaxed and he looked like he was asleep. What was this boy even doing with Yuki?

The Silver King and his clansman came through the door shortly after Fushimi relaxed. Neko ran over immediately. "Will he be okay?" She asked Izumo.

He nodded. "Yes. Just give the antidote some time."

"What happened?" Shiro stood against the wall next to Reisi.

"The Grey King was finally successful. He took Yuki and poisoned Fushimi. I don't know any of the details."

Shiro nodded. Kuroh stood next to him like he was ready to attack anyone and everyone. The Black Dog always stood like he was waiting for trouble.

"Were you able to use your tracking?" Izumo asked Anna.

She shook her head. "I was only able to see her for a few moments a few hours ago."

"Well, try again now. Maybe you'll be able to see something again."

Anna nodded and sat on the couch and looked into her marble. Curiosity seized Reisi so he moved behind her and crouched behind the couch to try and see. Nobody from the red clan liked that but Anna didn't seem to mind.

In the marble they saw Yuki. She was being carried to a bed. She looked okay, unharmed in the very least. Things between her and the boy got heated very quickly.

Anna set the marble on a map on the coffee table. The marble moved as if it had a will of its own and stopped in one particular area. Anna pointed. "There. She's there."

"That's all apartments," Reisi mused aloud. "We'll have to evacuate everyone quietly before moving in."

"There won't be time for that," the Black Dog chimed in.

The bell over the door rang and someone stepped in. Izumo looked over, "Sorry we're close-What the hell are you doing here?" Immediately he stood up. A boy who looked about Anna's age stepped in. Reisi recognized him immediately to be Gojou.

Gojou held up his hands in a surrender motion. "Calm down, I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Izumo didn't seem to believe him but he didn't stop the boy from coming in either. The boy sat next to Anna.

"Then what are you doing here?" Reisi demanded.

"Yukari sent me. He wanted to make sure you guys were all in the same place before he busted that girl out." Everyone gave him a blank look. "You know, that girl…I don't know her name. She's the Gold King, I think. Anyway, that isn't even the point and now I'm just wasting time. I also needed to tell you all that there's a new Green King as well. The Green King has already met up with Damien but everything is at a standstill for now."

Reisi nodded.

Izumo chimed in, "At a standstill? What do you mean?"

"I mean Damien is trying to lead an army. I haven't been told fully what his end goal is but the Green King told him he'd think about it. I don't know who the knew Green is but Damien seems adamant about getting that King on his side." He paused and waited until he saw everybody nodding their heads that they understood the situation.

"So, you guys need to stay put and trust that Yukari will bust her out," when Gojou said this he looked toward Kuroh. "Okay?"

Kuroh nodded like he spoke for everybody. "Yes, we understand. We'll be nearby to aid in any way."

"Just don't get in the way." Gojou stood and walked out. That kid was infuriating but Reisi would accept their help for the time being.

"How often can you check on Yuki, Anna?" He put both hands behind his back.

"Only as often as she allows. Her power can sometimes cloud up the marble. It seems for the most part she allows it but…there are times…" Anna stared longingly at her marble. Reisi wondered how close the two girls had become in the short amount of time.

"Do you think it might be the Grey King clouding up the marble?" Izumo had been done for a long while with patching up Fushimi's wound. Reisi wanted to move Fushimi but he knew it would be too far and too difficult on the boy.

"Maybe. I don't know." Anna sighed and picked up the red marble.

Reisi sometimes wished to be like Anna. She was able to get away with being so sad, so vulnerable, because she was young. Everyone looked toward Izumo for guidance but they were also loyal to Anna if she suddenly gave orders over Izumo. Reisi didn't have that luxury. Too many people looked to him for guidance and they didn't show their loyalty as outright as the red clan did. Their loyalty was only shown through their obedience but he feared that if he showed any signs of weakness they would all stop following him. So, for the time, he bottled up whatever he felt deep within himself. There would be plenty of time for tears and anger when he was alone.

Alone. It didn't sound like such a lonely word. So, why is it that when he was alone he felt lonely?


	17. 17: The Light

Yuki watched the city lights shine in so many different colors. The city was beautiful but it wasn't as beautiful as the stars in the country. She missed seeing the constellations. Maybe, if Fushimi lived, she would take Fushimi and Reisi and Anna and Misaki out to the country and show them the stars.

Koto perched on her shoulder and squawked randomly at nothing every now and again. Then he would fly about the room and land in front of the door. He would tap in semi-random patterns. These patterns were familiar to Yuki but she couldn't translate them. What kind of patterns were these called again?

Koto then perched back on Yuki's shoulder.

For hours he repeated this. Yuki watched out the window at the rain that hit the window and the lightening that danced with each other. The thunder rolled in the distance.

She remembered a night like this with Damien. She used to be so scared of the thunder that she hid under one of the desks and wouldn't come out. It was the end of the school day and Damien had to coax her out.

Yuki's memory was interrupted with Koto perching on her shoulder and squawking wildly. "What is it?" She asked the bird.

The door unlocking sounded louder than it really was. By now she could stand with her own strength. Whatever paralytic used to be in her system was gone now. She stared at the door, ready to fight off whoever it was.

The feminine man came through the door and Koto flew to his shoulder. "Yukari! Yukari!" The bird repeated.

Yukari held a finger to his lips at both me and the bird. "Shh. Don't wake everyone." He whispered.

"What are you doing?" Yuki demanded in a whisper.

"I'm getting you out, of course." He held out his hand. "Stay close to me."

She nodded and took his hand. Yukari's footsteps were quiet compared to Yuki's, which pounded as they ran down the stairs. The adrenaline that pumped through her system was the only thing that kept her standing, and kept her awake.

When their feet stepped outside a fog surrounded them. Yuki sucked in a breath and released her aura to scatter the fog. Damien stood behind them. Koto took to the air.

"Going so soon, Yukari?" There was poison in his voice.

Yukari took the sword from his waist.

Yuki turned slowly, never letting go of his hand. "Go back, Damien, and forget about this crazy plan." She warned.

Damien laughed. "Where did all of this bravado come from, my dear Yuki?"

Yuki breathed in and out slowly, expecting him to attack, waiting for him to attack.

Damien looked to Yukari. "Can I assume the Green King is refusing to work with me then?"

Yukari nodded. "That's right. The Green Clan has no desire to work with you."

"That's too bad." Damien rushed at Yukari but she quickly stood in his way and blocked his punch with her arms crossed in an x-shape in front of her. "Why are you protecting him?" he demanded and she kicked, her foot warm and alight with the golden aura. He jumped away but Yuki jumped forward and punching him with as much force as she could muster. The speed and impact forced him to stumble

Yukari was soon behind him, aiming for the heart when he jabbed his sword but Damien was a bit quicker to jump out of the way and released his fog.

"This is our only chance. Let's get out of here," the man grabbed her hand and they ran out of the fog and far away from the apartment.

When they finally stopped Yuki was out of breath. The rain finally stopped and it didn't appear that it would rain again any time soon. Yukari pulled her into an alley where they sat. Yukari wasn't at all out of breath like she was. Her lungs burned.

"You don't have that much stamina, do you?"

"I guess not," Yuki squeaked.

The thunder rolled in the distance but there wasn't a single flash of lightening. The thought of being struck by lightening still lingered in her mind, however. Yukari wasn't waiting around for too long. After several minutes he started to walk again. Yuki's feet screamed along with her lungs as she forced herself to follow.

"Where are we going?" She breathed.

Yukari didn't bother to answer. He looked at the parrot that perched comfortably on his shoulder. "Go tell Gojou it was a success."

Koto squawked and took off ahead of them.

Yuki settled with following him. She felt she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted to get away quickly.


End file.
